Whether it’s the wild and sometimes unpredictable Bluewater fishing you like, the calmer more sheltered waters of your local estuary system or the peace and tranquillity of that smaller river/stream, it’s all on the cards as we roll through summer.

The fishing in the past week has certainly kicked it up another notch. Finally offshore we have had some action after a pretty bleak winter. The current is ragging south out on the shelf at a rate of knots and bringing with it plenty of fish. To the north there are striped marlin being taken, whilst of the Shoalhaven and Jervis Bay there have been some pretty good catches of dollies on the shelf and at the FAD. In closer The Banks has produced a couple of marlin over the past few days but don’t hold your breath if you’re going to chase them there as this first run of fish can often be quite sporadic and unpredictable with them being there one day and gone the next. There have been plenty of good reds in the 40-60 meter mark and in closer there have been some nice kings off Currarong and south along the cliffs. The flathead drifters are getting good catches off both the Shoalhaven Heads surf club grounds and the Grounds just off the entrance to Jervis Bay.

Inside Jervis Bay there have been squid on both the northern and southern sides of the bay with an early start producing best results.

St Georges Basin has plenty of whiting over the vast array of sand flats that border it with reports of stacks of smaller fish jockeying for position before the occasional larger specimen smashes through them and whacks your lure out of the water, some nice bream are amongst them too and can be caught with a start stop retrieve with your surface lure whilst the whiting usually like a continuous skip or walk the dog style retrieve.

If you are after a feed of flattys trolling around both The Basin and The Shoalhaven River in around three to four metres of depth will produce you a catch. Lures working well are the Atomic Shiner 75 in the double deep, the Rapala X-wrap 10 and some of the new Duo divers in a slightly smaller profile lure when the fish are feeding on prawns and smaller baitfish. The Duo lures will also give you a chance to pick up bream as well.

The upper brackish of the Shoalhaven is firing for bass with some quality fish being taken. Early morning sessions seem to be getting best results along the bull rushes and snaggy banks...as the sun gets up try along the deeper rocky banks with spinner baits and soft plastics. Those skinny water creeks and holes are also worth a go with a few persistent fish making their way to them. The cicadas have been singing on certain days and I’ve had reports of them being smashed of the surface by both bass and carp! All three of our major dams are also producing fish, Flatrock, Danjera and Tallowa are all accessible to the public and offer some exciting bass fishing on their day just remember Tallowa Dam up Kangaroo Valley is paddle or peddle power only and electric motors are strictly prohibited attracting a hefty fine for those caught using them.